Filler feeding channel construction



Sept. 14, 1943. H. H. WHEELER FILLER FEEDING CHANNEL CONSTRUCTION Original Filed June 8, 1937 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 WEEWYR INVENTOR Sept. 14, 1943. H. H. WHEELER 2,329,233

FILLER FEEDING CHANNEL CONSTRUCTION 7 Original Filed June 8, 1937 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 41 I a 47 F 8 Z 4 -Pk'fi-E' Q E: I

INVENTOR Y HENRY H. WHEELER TOBNEY p 4,1943. 3 H. H. WHEELER Y 2,329,233

FILLER FEEDING CHANNEL CONSTRUCTION Original Filed June 8, 1937 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORv HENRY H.WHEELER TORNEY p 1943- -H. H. WHEELER FILLER FEEDING CHANNEL; consmudmon OriginEl Filed June 8, 1937 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 I ll vn ll, Il

, INVE NTOR HEN RY H.WHEELER Patented Sept. 14, 1943 ,32 ,23 FILIiERiFEEDING CHANNE I 1 j 1' Henry Hi1 Wheeler, Brooklym Ni Yassignor to International- Cigar Machinery Company," a

-- corporationof NewJersey 7' application, .June. 8!. 1937, i'SerialNo.

147,022. Divided and this applicationAugust This invention: relates v to" filler feeds .-for cigar machines and more particularlyto the crossfeeds thereoi -This application is. a division of my oo pending: application, Serial'No. 147,022,, filedJune-ii, i933}, on which.my Patent 2,276 361 was issued March 17,. .1942, and the suhject' the constructionoi the filleijfeedingphannel, and o ei f t e ob ec s a h ven i n is o p o: vide a filler feedingchannel; of novel construc: i n. 4 1. 1..

, Theside belts of-the present fiilei; feeding channel have =verticalgrrnnsg which are more Widely spaced-apart along theflsection at which the filler tobacco is. deposited 'therebetween: than; at the: opposed' vertical runs oflthe side belts at the forward or delivervend, of the "channelfrom which the.- stream;of tobacco is advanced under. the bunch lengtl rcutter.v "Thus'with an, autos, matic'leai feed for depositingthefiller tobacco between the side belts ofthefiller jfeeding channel; as shown in :the particular embodiment. .of the invention illustrated: hereimgithere. is 'more room in: which to deposit: the fillerf "tobacco he-v -tween said more widely spaced vertical :ofi

thesidebelts; and the stream of filler. tobaocoiso formed 'may'. be constricted between :the' mode" closely spaced verticalruns; at thedelivery end; (if-the channel to a-width corresponding-to the desired width of the bunchlength. Heretoforei thesside'walls of the filler-feeding:ehannel of the crossfeed comprised parallellopposed verti matter of the present applicationgpertains;. to

9 1 41,, sedans. 406,105 li laims j (01131- 84).

1 honor the cras re didrive to. the clutch mechanism and the" main drive; and

"Fig.7 5si's a longitudinal vsectionof a portion of the filler ,channel; the compression foot and the bunch'length cutter ,Referring to Fig. 4 of the drawings, airame .ll supports'aseriesof fillerfeed'chains l2, which have a construction similar 130117112; shown in my abovementioned application andcarry impaling pinsand'trave'l over sprockets mounted on. the drive shaft ll i and sprocketslfl mounted on shaft [8 (Fig. 4). The shaft lfiis driven from. drive means controlledfbyfthe tobacco measuring and forwarding .mechanism hereinafter described.

The hopper I9,- which isprovided with'a cover to keep. the tobacco from drying out'too rapidly, has a rear: wall indicated. generally at, 23 and is arranged, tohold a supply of lon'g'filler tobacco. The pins on the chains impaleor en-- gage the filler leavesinthe supplyin the hopper and. carry .them upwardly. The, leaves "are stripped from the pinsjat the delivery point by members Knot shown). andl fall into an elongated-.chamber Knot shown) from Which'gthe very 11211131111161? stream. was '.advancedinkthe channel for severance ofhunchlen'gths the presence of any shallowportions inthe streamdue to inaccuracies in Iayin'gthe filler" tobacco in the channelTwould resulti'insubstantial inaccuracies .inthe volume of the-hunch lengith severedrirom the stream." W; h

'with 'this and othenobjcts notspecifically mentioned in view,- the invention consists in certain constructionsiand combinationsfihereinafter a part leaves are delivered to a scale pan (notsliown) a The scale beam snafu: mg. .3) isprovided with a earn 41 which supports a. roller 4,8 connected by. pin 4811 to a vertical-rod) reciprocablebetween two setsof guide rolls-5ll and connected at its upper. endto. a cam levertlnby a 49a. This camlever '5] islifted at intervals by a continuously. rotating ca'r'n-.-55 loosely; mounted onthe shaft [-6. and secured tolsprocket 52", in order topermlt over-balancing of the sca e pan by releasing pressure on the camJil andJal1ow.-the raised portion 41a of the-cam 47 .to .be rotated from underthe roller 48. Rotation of cam 55, V

as will he.;hereinafter described, trips av pawl 63 and permits the pawl to engagethe ratchet teeth 62a thereby stopping the rotation of dish .62 (Figl3) of aclutch 3.4 (Fig.4) havinga construction similar to. that shown in. Patent 2,124,219. This serves todisengage theclutch,- as is clearly shown fromthe disclosure setforth inPatent 2,124,219, permitting the shaft tostop and the feeding of the long filler-leaves tater-1 'minate. r p Y Thus when r the depressed or: cutout 5! through the link 49a and-plunger .49 pushes the-cam 41, causingthe same to'rotatetheslriaft portionat l of the cam reaches the cam-roller 53 t-he lever downwardly to the cross feed. A spring 51 anchored at 58 on the lever 5| and suitably attached to frame ll maintains the roller. 5E! in engagement with the cam 55.

The declutching of clutch 34 to stop the automatic filler feed is caused as follows An extension 51a on' the lever 5|.

the machine. Thus when the lever 5|. is perehgages an adjacent screw 59 secured to the lever 6Q on the pivot pin 6| suitably mounted on the frame Q 'y y 68a and 68b constituting a cover, and when open,

forming a chute into the filler feeding channel 69 of the cross feed mechanism. The gates 68a and '68hwhen. closed form. a cover to hold down the ends of the longitudinallyextending. leaves in said channel. For the purpose of opening the cross feed cover gates 68a and 68b, lever arms H and I2- secured to said gates ar provided and mitted by the cam 41 to lower into the cutout 54 1 ope a t by a rack 13 and b l o s 4 rom Cam of the cam 55, extension 5la on said-lever is lifted, thereby pushing up saidscrew 59 and; lifting lever 60 together with latch piece 60a,

thus permitting the ratchet lever 63, urged by spring 6%, to drop into engagement with the f teeth 62a of disk 62 of the clutch 34 to declutch shaft it from the drive sprocket 52 which is con the scale pan and in closed pos1t1on during the nected to the main drive of the machine; caus- 'ing the shaft and the feed mechanism connected thereto to stop; The ratchetwhe'el '62 is loosely mounted on the. shaft, IB'and is provided'with suitablecontrol prongs which operate rollers which form the driving, connection be tween an outer flange of the clutch 34 connected to the sprocket 52, which is driven from the main drive of the cigar machine, and an inner driving disk'which'is keyed to the shaft IS, the arrangement of these parts being similar to that of Pat- .ent 2,124,219 abovereferred to.

Once the clutch 34 has been declutched, feeding of the long filler tobacco. "leaves ceases. Thereafter the clutch will remain declutched and there will be no'feeding so long-as there-is sufficiency of tobacco for forming charges at the main feedcf the cigar machine. When how-5 ever the supply of tobacco at this point gets below normal, the feeding is restarted and'the cross. feed also starts. The means fforacc'omplishing this result is shown in. Fig. 3. It -con-.

sists of'a link 64 connected at 65 to the pawl 63 and having an' elongated slot which isfen gaged by a pin '66 of a lever 61a, the lever being secured to a rake shaft Blwhich'supports the rake 61b acting to sweep the tobacco cut from the forward end of the cross feed into the columnrof tobacco from which the charge is out. As will be seen from Fi 3, if on the forward movement of the rake 611) it encounters amass of tobacco in the .columnof tobacco. ahead. of the same, such that the rake can mov only a limiteddistance, then the rake will not operate to disengage the pawl 63 from the ratchet teeth 62 and the feeding will notstart, therebeing a1- -ready enough tobacco available. If however the rake moves well forward then the. pin reaches the end of the slot 68a and pushes the pawl out of engagement with the ratchet teeth. ,At the same time this relatches the latch fillq and latch piece 63a untilsuch time as the over-bal ancing of the scale pan stops the-feeding opera-1 tion again. When the pawl 63 is withdrawn from the ratchet wheel 62a driving of the shaft 16 is. resumed andfeeding of the long filler tobacco leaves restarts. It may be stated that the construction of the rake and cross feed and main feed is generally similar to that shown in'Patent 1,740,571 t W. B.'Bro nander issued DecemberP24 1929,'to which reference is mad'e'forde lever I5. The latter is provided with a cam roller I00 and thereby actuated in. timed relation to the operation of the long filler feed mechanism and cross feed so that these gates are maintained in open position when tobacco is delivered from intermediate forward motion of the bottom belt 15 and the side belts 11 of the cross feed.

Atthe forward end of the cross feed, as shown in Fig. 1,' there is provided a vertically-reciprocating plunger 18a carrying a corrugated knife 18 which serves tocut from the lengthof tobacco-advancedby the cross feed a bunch length section of'tobacco which is supported on a swingable shelf 80 (Fig. 3) during the cutting opera tion. After thev length has" been cut, the shelf, together with an overlying lever 8| is swun downwardly to a position where the rake may sweep a cut length from said shelf on to main feed. belt 82 and into association with the tobacco column 0 which is forwarded by said main It is noted that inasmuch as the cross feed iscontrolled by the operationof the-rake 61b and the'sta'rting of the feeding operation of the long filler leaves is also controlled by said rake the two" will be operated in proper timed relation. The cross feed will be open and ready to receive the leaves delivered by the. scale pan when the scale pan is'in'operation to deliver thesame.I-;v v

' The. leaves dropped into the scale pan overbalance the. arm-of the scale. "When the raised portion'fla of .the cam 41 swings'out from under the cam follower 48, the pressure of the cam follower. on the upwardly inclined cam surface 41 forces the scale pan down the rest of the way. The scale pan is balanced by a. suitable 'weight 41a which is adjustable radially on a counters a surplus of tobacco and is restarted when the rake encounters an insufficiency.

Accordingly when a sufficient weight of leaves threaded arm 4Ib'on the scale'shaft 42.. Since the weight of the cam follower 49 and the pres'-' sure produced by the, spring 51 will hold the delicately balanced scale armAla, 4lb against rotation, it is important that this can be periodically released; and this'is don by providing the continuously rotating .cam member 55 with a series of depressions 55a. into which the follower 53'dropsperiodically. Thus the raisediportion between the depressions lifts the cam follower and releases the cam; yet as long as the cam follower on its downward movement feels the raisedpo'rtion 41a, no change in the feeding cycle occurs. When however th raised portion of the cam 4'I passes from under the cam follower 48 and. the scale pan is depressed, nothing holds :the lever-15] in upward position except the cam '55 and when the cutout portion 54 thereof-is cixfossiifeed ide b lt vlrar Emvidedswith: ear

reached, 'thelever drops, terminating the operating cycleof the automaticifiller feed, through rotation of shaft I-G, as already des'cribed; The

lifting of the ratchet lever 63; starts. the feeding cycle through-therelatching of the latch 6.0a

- Tl'la ltiav elili'g over puireys" 1112 land 1:! G and with forward; somewhat narrowl runs 11d passing oveiflpulleysv lite, 811Zand 88. r'Compression -foot and: the'latchpiece 63a 'tohold the ratchet- 63 outof deelutching ordrive stopping-position on the disk 62.

It is noted that even though the return-of the scale pan after dumping of the-leaves through.

overbalancing of the same by theweight 4Ia,

Testis f'Sh'OWn' between the-runs 'I'Id jWhiCh 'iS similar?- all? respects that disclosed :in the Bronan'der :Patent *1,740,571-, above? referred to.

- The portionsofthe stream of filler tobaccolunder otherwise places the machine in condition for 1 restarting the feeding motion of the parts, feeding will not be started until the rake 67b lifts the latch I33. This is because lifting of the cam follower 48a and lever 5!, and in consequence the lying the horizo'n'tal bottom surfacel-of the compression footiflais' compressed bylthe same while mama la severs a bunch length from thevlea'd- 7 foot 79a normally holds the nut 206 against the lowering of the latch pieces 60 is insufficient to hold the ratchet 63 out of drive stopping position until such ratchet is liftedthrough link 64 by the rake 67b encountering an insufficiencyof tobacco in the column C. Since the rake 61b also controls the operation of the cross feed, the two will be started in timed relation so that the cross feed and the automatic long filler feeding devices will operate in proper synchronism.

In connection with the cross'feed generally indicated at F in Fig. 1, it will be noted that it consists of three endless belts, the operative runs 11a and 16 of which form a channel into which the tobacco leaves are deposited. As shown in Fig; 2, the belts 77 are driven by pulleys '81 and 88 on shafts}!!! and 90 respectively which are driven in turn through bevel'gears 9 land 92, and thence by gears 03 and 94 through shaft 95 and sprocket 91. The latter is driven by chain III from a sprocket II 0 (Fig; 4) mounted on shaft I09 driven through bevel gears I08 from shaft I01. The belt I6 is driven by a pulley on shaft 95 as shown in Fig. 2. As disclosed in Patent 1,740,571, the cross feed is driven through a V crank I030. on shaft I02 and connected by a rod I03 to an arm I04 loosely mounted on shaft I 01 and carrying a pawl I05 which may be tripped into engagement with a ratchet I I3 fastened on shaft I07, by a; pivoted finger connected by a lug 202. The severed bunch length now rests upon the swingable shelf 80 which then descends, whereupon the rake 61b moves to the dotted position shown inFig. 3 and sweeps the severed bunchlength against the rear end of the column C from whose forward end the bunch charge is cut by the cutter 84. The construction of the bunch length cutter and the manner in which the compression foot is supported, is similar to thatruns between which the fillertobacco is deposited,

the runs from between which the filler stream emerges being more closely spaced than the runs between which the filler tobacco is deposited, to

constrict the filler stream laterally to the desired I width, a compactor having a horizontal bottom 52 and cam 55 are driven from the main drive I of the cigar machine asfor example shaft I00,

7 i and the cross feed, for example, the shaft I02 of my construction corresponding to the crank shaft 79 of said Patent 1,740,571, may be driven from the same shaft I00 througha sprocket chain IOI so as to insure their being driven in proper timed relation. For convenience in correlating structure, it is noted that the part 82 of the patent is the same part that is shown at 67a in Fig. '3

and my rake 67b is similarly actuated by ,a-

the pulleys B7 and 88 closer'together than the rear ones and there is a constriction of the stream of filler tobacco to the desired width of the bunch prior ,to severance of the bunch lengths by the corrugated cutter 18. .It will be noted that the adapted to engage the portion of the filler stream between said more closely spaced belt runs and compact this portion of the filler-stream toa predetermined degree, and a vertical knife for separating bunch lengths from the portion of the filler stream emerging from between said more.

closely spaced runs. r 1 2. -In a cigar machine filler feed, the combination with a horizontal belt adapted to support a continuous stream of long filler tobacco wherein the filler tobacco extends lengthwise of the stream, of a pair of endless side belts coacting with said horizontal belt to advance the stream of long filler tobacco, said belts having parallel opposed vertical runs from" which the filler stream emerges and more widely spaced vertical runs between which the filler tobacco is deposited whereby the filler stream is laterally constricted between said more closely spaced runs to the desired width, a compactor having a horizontal bottom adapted to engage the portion of the filler stream between said more closely spaced beltruns and compact the same to a predetermined degree, and a vertical knife for separating bunch lengths from the portion of the filler stream emerging from'between said more closely spaced runs.

3. In a cigar machine filler feed, in combination, a pair of traveling endless belts having .oP- posed vertical runs and an endless traveling belt having a horizontal run underlying said vertical runs, said opposed runs and horizontal run formthe outlet end of said channel, and mechanism for separating bunch lengths from. the com stricted and compacted portion of the filler stream emerging iromsaidchannel and assembling the-separatedbunch lengths side by side in awcolumn, said mechanism including a member for advancing the separated bunch lengths transversely' and f compacting them laterallyagainst said column. 1 1

HENRY H. WHEELER. 

